Configure the Kodi app

In this post we will learn how to develop a Kodi add-on in Python. You can run the add-on in OpenELEC or LibreELEC on the Orange Pi or Raspberry Pi, or as a matter of fact on any device that can run Kodi. The add-on will read data from various sources, such as an API for the current Bitcoin price, and show it on the main screen.

Install OpenCV on the Orange Pi

In this project I will show you how to capture images from a webcam, detect faces in those images, train a face recognition model and then try it out on video stream from a webcam. The code here can be the basis for many other projects that contain any element of personal authentication.

Set up the personal cloud service

One cool and practical project you can do on an Orange Pi or a Raspberry Pi is to set up a free, personal and “on-premise” version of Dropbox. This will allow you, among other things, to share files between your different devices. Additionally, you can automatically upload any new pictures from your phone to the cloud storage. In this tutorial you will learn to install the private cloud server software, configure it and sync files from a mobile device. I tested these steps on the Orange Pi and I assume this will also work on the Raspberry Pi. We will store the data on and external device, like a USB flash drive or external HDD, connected to the Orange Pi.

In my previous IoT project on the Orange Pi I showed how to read a DHT22 or a DHT11 temperature and humidity sensor. That project involved connecting the sensor to the GPIO pins and writing C code to read the sensor. In this example I will show you how do the same, but using Python code instead.

Store sensor data with SQLite

Very often as part of an Orange Pi or Raspberry Pi project involving sensors, it is useful to store the sensor data in some kind of way or another. A good way to store the data is in a database that you can manage and query. SQLite is a popular embedded database management system. SQLite comes in the form of a C library. Due to it’s low footprint on resources, it fits well with a device such as a Raspberry Pi or the Orange Pi.

Connect the ultrasonic sensor to the Orange Pi

In this tutorial we will learn how to connect a HC-SR04 ultrasonic range sensor to the Orange Pi. This sensor measures distance from the sensor to an object by using ultrasounds. This is similar to how animal echolocation works, for example bats navigating in total darkness. Also, it’s how the submarine’s sonar detects objects under the sea.

Install Java on Orange Pi

Let’s put the yellow elephant on the Orange Pi! Hadoop is a framework for distributed data storage and processing used in big data applications. We will set up a single node Hadoop cluster on the Orange Pi. This may or may not be practical in a production environment, but it’s a good way to learn to configure Hadoop, load a file on the hdfs and run a MapReduce job.

Install Kodi on the Orange Pi

OpenELEC is an operating system built around Kodi, allowing you to turn your device in a media center. Installing OpenELEC on the Orange Pi is quite simple. In this post I will show you how to download, burn and load OpenELEC on the Orange Pi Plus 2e. The OpenELEC image is also available for the Orange Pi One, Orange Pi PC and Orange Pi Lite.

Install MySQL and set up a database

In this post I will show you how to install MySQL sever on the Raspberry Pi or on an Orange Pi Plus 2e. Furthermore I will show you how to read and write data from Python to a MySQL database using SQLAlchemy.

Connect the sensor to the Pi

Time for some physical computing on the Orange Pi Plus 2e! We will connect a temperature and humidity sensor to the Orange Pi and write and compile a C code snippet to display the sensor readings. Additionally, you will learn about the GPIO pins.

Armbian on the microSD

You just got your own Orange Pi and you want to start developing your ideas. But before that, you need an operating system. In this post I will show how to install Armbian on the Orange Pi. Armbian is a Debian based operating system which targets the ARM architecture.

Looking for a new Raspberry Pi

So I decided to buy a new Raspberry Pi to use as a web server. I already have a Raspberry Pi 2, but I don’t want to use that as a server, because I am using it as a media center with OpenELEC and it works great. I initially wanted to get the Raspberry Pi 3.